An interesting documentary is opening in some major cities this weekend, and if you get the chance, I’d suggest that you check it out.

Titled “8: The Mormon Proposition,” the film examines the role the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) played in helping pass Proposition 8 in California, which repealed marriage equality for same-sex couples.

If Sylvia Spencer took a job at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, no one would ask her what her religious beliefs are. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Americans would be horrified to think that such a consideration could affect her employment prospects for a position providing publicly funded social services.

HHS officials should ascertain her qualifications for the task at hand, and that would be it.

Yesterday Americans United asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a South Dakota church whose pastor openly admitted that he endorsed a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit.

The Rev. H. Wayne Williams of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in Rapid City hasn’t been shy about what he did. In fact, state Sen. Gordon Howie, the candidate Williams endorsed during a May 16 church service, sent out a press release bragging about it.

Howie had challenged churches to endorse him and was ecstatic when one did.

If I lived in southern Illinois and wanted a lesson in Christianity, like most people, I’d consult a Christian pastor, priest or theologian.

I definitely wouldn’t think to consult U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) or any other politician for that matter. Yet Shimkus seems to think he can be a one-stop shop – serving as not just a political representative but also a religious leader.

Why else would he bother to tweet Bible verses daily on his official Twitter page and quote Scripture passages on his official Facebook account?

Prominent critic of church-state separation and Religious Right darling U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is back in the news.

According to the Minnesota Independent, Bachmann and her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, have used $30,000 in state funds since 2007 to run a counseling center that “uses counseling methods steeped in fundamentalist Christianity.”